Yes, it is true; UK houses have dropped in value by a great deal since they peaked in the last quarter of 2007. This can make selling a hard-pill to swallow; too hard for many people.

But what people must remember is that, while you are selling your house for less than it was worth, you will also get the house you want to buy for a lot less.

In fact, there have been reports according to the Land Registry, house price falls accelerate as you go up the property types, so if you want to trade up you may even end up gaining a little in real terms.

This current correction is far from over. Despite the currently positive news all the signs point to the slump being prolonged. Even if this is the bottom, then all impartial experts are forecasting that even when the market bottoms it will be several years before prices start to rise again.

Can you really put your life and or your families lives on hold for that long? If not register today and sell your house with Zungalow for only £29 per year.

I just got an article in my Google alerts, our good old friends at Write About Property have been giving us a bit of free advertising. Even if I do say it myself it is well deserved.

The article, titled Private Property Sales: Estate Agents £4,000 Private £29 centred around the fact that the estate agents fee, now far less flexible and fixed at the 2.5% mark is likely putting some people off selling their house, and how these people should try selling their property privately at fees such as the £29 charged by Zungalow.

It's true: when you're house has lost £30,000 off its value, paying £4,000 to sell it does stick in your throat.

One other good point the article makes though is: who cares about selling your house for the best price more than you do?

The answer is no one. When you have only spent £29 to have hundreds of potential buyers viewing your property every week on Zungalow, it leaves plenty of room for additional and possibly creative marketing, like as the article suggested embossing an image of your house onto the side of your transit van.

That sounds a bit whacky, but what about buying a page in the local paper or a board at the local football ground -- use your imagination.

The truth is, if your property is priced realistically it will sell through Zungalow, these other methods are just suggestions to try and accelerate the process. It is also worth mentioning that when you decide to sell your house privately you also have to do things like making your own for sale sign.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has made a statement blaming the new law regarding Home Information Packs for exacerbating the currently shortage of UK housing supply. The new law, which came into effect in April, forces sellers to have the Pack in place, including the new Property Information Questionnaire in place before the property is marketed.

None the less, the new HIPS law has attracted a lot of criticism from within the industry, but some have also praised it as being good news for buyers.

Advocates say the new law means that the houses on sale are serious vendors, and also it means sellers are able to get all the facts straight about a property at the start of the process, rather than finding out something the scuppers the sale down the line costing both parties money.

While the new HIPS law may not be the only, or even the main reason behind the tightening of supply in UK housing stocks, we certainly think it is not helping the situation.

As some of you will know, Zungalow allows its patrons to advertise a single property for sale for an annual fee of £29. For such a small fee, this would allow people to market their property on the off chance that someone would make an offer. Now that people will need to add the cost of a Home Information Pack onto that it makes it a little bit more costly, and perhaps out of the reach of some people.

The only way around it of course, is for the seller to make the Home Information Pack up themselves. Most people are daunted by the thought of preparing the pack themselves, but for people who want to market through Zungalow in such away could perhaps take their time over it.

People who wish to create their own Home Information Pack can find a list of the documents in must contain and the optional documents here, and download the Property Information Questionnaire here

Then it is the cost of a few phone-calls, gallons of petrol, and a fair bit of paperwork to create your own Home Information Pack and Property Information Questionnaire, to allow you to sell your property privately for only £29 per year on Zungalow.com.

Private property sales is something that has really taken off in the past year or so. Since the UK housing bubble burst, it has gotten harder and harder to sell houses, and estate agents have been forcing their clients to continually lower their prices, and their expectations in order to achieve a sale.

Selling property privately carries a massive saving compared to using estate agents; estate agents charge between .5% and 4% of the sale price, whereas private property sales websites like Zungalow.com offer the chance to advertise to a wide audience for as little as £29 per year. Most people save around £3000 when selling property privately.

Most people who consider private property sales have a lot of questions, like, but the estate agent does the valuation, how much is my house worth? And, who takes care of the viewings?

There are a whole host of house pricing sites out there today. Anyone considering selling property privately can easily value their home:

You can enter your postcode into Zoopla.co.uk and find out how much homes in your area are selling for. Zoopla prices are based on Land Registry figures and recorded sale prices. Nationwide do a house price calculator on their house price index page. A good way of valuing a house for private property sales is to get a figure from both of those sources, and either split the difference or employ personal judgement.

As for who takes care of the viewings private property sales are just that; private. You as the seller are responsible for everything: valuing, making for sale signs, advertising, house dressing, viewings and negotiating with anyone who makes offers, everything.

If that sounds like too much pressure, selling property privately doesn't have to be a bold choice. Private property sales have gotten so big that estate agents are finally facing some real competition. Combine that with the limited numbers of instructions agents are currently receiving and the seller is in a prime bargaining position.

Most people who are selling property privately are also selling with an estate agent; they have negotiated a clause into the estate agent's contract that says if the property is sold through private property sales the estate agent receives no fee. This tends to make the estate agent really work to sell your home and gives those selling property privately the best of both worlds.

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) house price index has showed that the rate of decline in UK house prices slowed in March. This comes after the latest release of the Land Registry index showed the rate of decline slowing in March, and Halifax and Nationwide a slowing decline for April.

Year on year prices were down 13.6% in March, and fell 3.8% in Q1 this year, compared to a 6.4% fall the previous quarter.

A slowing rate of decline is not, in itself, a sign that we are nearing the bottom. After over a year of the worst house price crash the UK has ever seen it is logical that the decline would slow. Spring is traditionally a good time for the housing market, from the low point we are at that translates to a less bad time.

The fundamentals that must be in place before the market will bottom have not been brought any closer:

There are still very few buyers around:

will be helped by recovery in the wider economy and greater mortgage availability.

Vendors are still unrealistic:

will likely be helped by increased buyer numbers

Homes still not affordable for first time buyers:

Will only be helped by prices falling further and by better (higher LTV) mortgage products for first time buyers.

The whole thing is a cycle, the first thing we need is for the recovery of the UK economy as a whole to begin. This will stave off rising unemployment, save jobs, reduce the fear mentality of those in at- risk industries (most people), and create new jobs. All in all more jobs and more job security means more people looking to buy houses.

More people looking to buy houses will increase vendor realism, or bring them to realisation quicker, because there will be no more excuses; the buyers are there, it is only there price that is stopping them from achieving a sale. This will go the same for mortgage lenders, more buyers and/or more realistic vendors will put pressure on the lenders to open up the market or risk snuffing out the recovery they pushed so hard for.

You can now follow Zungalow on Twitter.

We will initially be tweeting links to any blog updates but hope to eventually use our Twitter account to update on new properties and videos that have been uploaded by the Zungalow community. You can also follow the tweets of one of the Zungalow team, Richard McKay aka @holeinhiseye 

Welcome to the Zungalow blog!

Our main Zungalow site will go live soon(ish) but if you'd like some more information or would like to help us test Zungalow then please visit www.zungalow.com and complete the form. ZungalowZungalow may be of interest if : is a property community where users can create their own schedules using text, photos and video.

• You are a property owner and would like to sell or rent your property (and list for free).
• You are a home owner and would like to showcase your home but not necessarily sell.
• You are searching for a property to buy or rent.
• You have a holiday home that you'd like to advertise.
• You are feeling the pinch and would like to list your property for free.
• You would like to test the market...for free.
• You would like to invite interest without an obligation to sell.
• You are interested in selling FSBO (For sale by owner.)
• You are listed with an estate agent and would like more (free) exposure.
• You have no intention of selling but would like to show off your design talents.
• You'd like to see your house showcased in a Homes or Interiors magazine - instead you can show it to the Zungalow community.
• You're handy with a camcorder! Create your own 'Through the Keyhole' style Video Walkthrough.
• You're a nosey neighbour - explore other homes featured on Zungalow.
• You're interested in making friends within our property community.
• You have a business or commercial property/ properties that you'd like to market.
• You'd like to join our property related Zungalow forum.

We look forward to creating the Zungalow Community with you.